Gang Abatement
Background
A gang is defined as an organized group that engages in a continual conspiracy to commit crime, often using violence, intimidation and terrorist tactics. In 1996, the National Drug Intelligence Center identified more than 7,400 gangs in 88 percent of the 300 law enforcement jurisdictions responding to a survey. Gangs are not limited to large cities: The survey found gang activity in 98 percent of jurisdictions with populations over 100,000; 68 percent with populations under 25,000 and 78 percent of those under 50,000 (1). While gang violence often targets members of other gangs, neighborhoods are impacted by the spillover of increased violent crime, drug trafficking and other problems.
Policies
Use court-ordered injunctions to discourage and limit gang activity.
Under a state law aimed at curtailing street terrorism, law enforcement officials may seek and obtain a court injunction against known gang members with records of violent activity. The injunction specifies a geographic area where the gang member may not engage in certain activities, such as loitering or meeting with other known gang members. The mechanism, which has been upheld by courts if carefully defined, has been used in more than a dozen areas of California.
In an area of Oceanside known as the Eastside, officials obtained an injunction in December 1997 limiting the activities of 28 members of the Posole gang. The order makes it a misdemeanor for the members to carry cell phones in public, associate with other gang members, drink alcohol in public, use gang signs or wear gang clothing, and stay out past a curfew. In addition, they may not make loud noises, prevent people from using sidewalks, approach cars as they drive through the area, or act as lookouts for other gang members. And they may not carry tools commonly used to scrawl graffiti or break into cars and homes. The restrictions only apply in a one-mile-square area that encompasses Eastside.
Within four months after the order was issued, six of the 28 were arrested and charged with violating the order. At least one was jailed for the violation; other trials were pending in mid-1998.
Effectiveness Data
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California opposes the use of gang abatement injunctions, which they believe are a violation of individual rights. An ACLU study of a 1993 order in San Fernando Valley showed that 18 months after the injunction was issued, crime had not been reduced in the target area and had actually increased in nearby neighborhoods. But Los Angeles prosecutors, who support the use of such tools, call the study flawed and say such orders have worked in Pasadena and the Pico-Union area of Los Angeles (2). The impact in Oceanside so far has been significant. In Oceanside's Eastside area, there were 51 violent crimes and 155 property crimes in 1997. Based on the first four months of 1998, the annualized rate for violent crimes dropped to 33 and for property crimes to 111 (3).
Contacts
Reginald Grigsby
Police Lieutenant
Special Enforcement Section
Oceanside Police Department
Phone: 760-966-7960,
E-mail: rgrigsby@ci.oceanside.ca.us
References
- Wiley SR. Statement to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Federal Bureau of Investigation, April 23, 1997.
- Fighting Criminal Activity with Civil Law. San Diego Union-Tribune. December 15, 1997.
- Actual Crimes Reports. Oceanside Police Department, January-December 1997 and January-April 1998.
Acknowledgements
Kathleen Beasley, Editor
